Judge Says Staff did Not Meet Social Work Requirements

A social worker showed “alarming ineptitude” when handling a case where two children were unnecessarily medicated and kept in wheelchairs after their mother fabricated illnesses, a judge has found.

Her Honour Judge Mayer said Barnet council had “neglected” the case and missed opportunities to intervene after the social worker failed to act properly on concerns raised about the nine-year-old boy and his seven-year-old sister.

She made the criticisms in two rulings made public this week after the case had been heard in private.

The judge found the social worker was “inactive” despite medics and teachers all “clearly asking social services” to review concerns over the discrepancy between the mother’s description of her children and the experience of nursery and school staff.

Concerns about the mother’s fixation on the children’s health issues were first raised with the council in 2011, the judge said. When the children started in nursery in 2012, staff made “very early referrals” to the social worker. A year later a special educational needs officer made a referral to the Multi-Agency Safeguarding Hub, but this was not pursued...

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